will calzaghe gain respect from beating hopkins?

so who do u think calzaghe should fight to gain the respect of the american fans? I don't think he will no matter who he fights because he's not American! Its clear that this is the case because he's just had his best fight against the best opponent he will ever face in Kessler and most Americans don't even acknowledge that, yet the same will tell you that Pavlik vs Taylor II was a massive match-up, when it was a B-movie at best to Calzaghes blockbuster. Whether he goes on to beat Hopkins and Pavlik this may go some way to increasing his appeal but people who dont like Calzaghe or respect his record now will find a way not to respect it even after those what I would classify as lesser wins.

Calzaghe has the respect of the American fans. He has a TON of respect considering what he's actually accomplished. What is troubling on the other hand; is Joe's lack of actual popularity. That is something that bothers me. He should be a much more popular fighter worldwide. I cannot comprehend that Calzaghe and Kessler was the lowest rated free broadcast in the history of HBO.. That is a crime. The Hopkins fight will increase his popularity and his reputation IF he wins. Calzaghe is extremely popular. That fight was huge in Europe and you will see how many Brits show up in Vegas to support Joe. Calzaghe/Kessler drew over 50,000 people to watch it live. Not many fighters in America would even come close to those numbers. I guess the low HBO ratings can be because Americans didn't know much about either Calzaghe or Kessler, since neither fighter was American or has fought there. A fighter doesn't have to be popular in America anymore since there are so many European Champions who are huge draws here. In the future you will see many top American fighter coming to Europe to fight since boxing is more popular here now.

Calzaghe seems to be the narrow favourite with most boxing experts, but quite a few are picking Hopkins. OK, Hopkins is old, but that just goes to show how well respected & difficult an opponent he really is. If Calzaghe wins, expect that to be forgotten by many people pretty quickly, & it will be how Hopkins age has finally caught up with him. Even if Calzaghe manages to get Pavlik in the ring afterwards & beat him, expect respect to be grudging at best by many Americans.

I cant see Hopkins losing this fight. He's the executioner. When the chips are down and the odds are stacked against him he usually pulls of his greatest performances.

I dont think calzaghe will gain any respect from fight hopkins people will say hes old and over it. If calzaghe fight pavilk and beats him people will say pavilk wasnt in calzaghe league. so who do u think calzaghe should fight to gain the respect of the american fans? Calzaghe has the respect of the American fans. He has a TON of respect considering what he's actually accomplished. What is troubling on the other hand; is Joe's lack of actual popularity. That is something that bothers me. He should be a much more popular fighter worldwide. I cannot comprehend that Calzaghe and Kessler was the lowest rated free broadcast in the history of HBO.. That is a crime. The Hopkins fight will increase his popularity and his reputation IF he wins.

I dont think calzaghe will gain any respect from fight hopkins people will say hes old and over it. If calzaghe fight pavilk and beats him people will say pavilk wasnt in calzaghe league. so who do u think calzaghe should fight to gain the respect of the american fans? Calzaghe has respect from American boxing experts. The only people who will never give Calzaghe credit are haters on message boards. There is no fighter Joe can beat for the haters to give him credit. They will always make an excuse as to why Joe won. So I say, fuck them!

No matter who Joe defeats there are people (like ManChine on this forum) who will never give him credit. If it's a prime age fighter like Dawson or Kessler, they'll say he was no good anyway. If it's someone in Joe's age range, they'll say the opponent was washed up. http://www.boxingscene.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3293513&postcount=15 I'm giving Calzaghe the credit he deserves (as long as he wins the fight). If he beats Hopkins convincingly, something many have not been able to do, he deserves his spot in the top p4p rankings. It's not like the Calzaghe's themselves (Joe&Enzo) are treating this fight as if they are going to fight against some legendary prime fighter, they are straight up saying that they are going to beat an old man up. I don't think they believe that Hopkins is even as good as Kessler at this point of his career (and he probably isn't). Calzaghe tells BoxingScene that Hopkins is no longer that fighter he once was. He can't see a single scenario where Hopkins would be able to deal with his very high workrate and be able pull out a win. Calzaghe feels that Hopkins, deep in his heart, knows he can't win the fight. http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=11684

he wil get alot of credit because winky and tarver cudnet beat bhop lol so he wil be known better then them two at least. If he beats pavlik then yeh hofer for sure.

Except for the 12 million that he'll be making, this is a lose/lose fight for Calzaghe. If he wins, he beat up an old man, if he loses, likewise. If he knocks Bernard out, he might get some credit, but that has next to no chance of happening.

Hopkins best days are clearly past for sure. with that being said a win over him is still nothing to sneeze at! yeah i agree Terry Norris has some very solid names on his record but the best fighters he beat were more than likely past their best Meldrick Taylor,Donald Curry,Ray Leonard, but u still have to respect the calibre of fighters he beat in Leonard ,Curry ,Taylor ,etc

Hopkins best days are clearly past for sure. with that being said a win over him is still nothing to sneeze at!

and I've seen ya client Calz rabbit punch a few guys! Name a boxer in history who has never rabbit punched

OK, I've been giving this some thought. The legacy that Joe Calzaghe leaves behind him is going to last a lot longer than just the next few years, and there are more important factors at stake than merely the fairly narrow current perceptions of who is and who isn't a 'name' right now. The current reality of the LHW/ SMW scene is this: it is in transition. There are a large number of fighters regarded particularly in the US as HOFers, who are now way past their primes, and who may look good to current day, casual, US fans of boxing, but who history will judge, correctly to have been past their primes in 2008. Of these, I think it is fair to say that Bernard Hopkins is currently the most highly regarded right now, and will probably have the most lasting legacy. Roy Jones obviously deserves a mention too, he was much greater than Hopkins in his day, but is all but done now. I believe this makes Hopkins easily the most credible opponent in terms of Joe Calzaghe's legacy. I would argue the majority of these other 'names' like Winky, Tarver, Trinidad, Taylor, either are not really LHWs at all, or have been somewhat overrated from the start. I believe this means they are not credible opponents for Joe. Throughout his career, even if he has never received the accolades he deserves (he has been a virtual unknown in the UK for much of his career, at least amongst casual fans), he has always been regarded by those in the know as an extremely dangerous fighter. This reputation has meant that up until now, when frankly the US 'names' need him more than he needs them, those US names have tended to avoid him. The consequence of this is that as his reputation has finally begun to grow, over say the last four or five years, Calzaghe has had to content himself with facing younger challengers such as Lacy and Kessler, and I think in this regard, history has done Calzaghe a favour. History will judge fights of this type, against younger, hungrier lions, to be exactly the type of fights that the aging (he is 36) champion needed to take to cement his legacy. History will see these type of fights, rather than say, one sided showpieces against the likes of a shot Roy Jones, to have been the legitimate course. These type of fighters (maybe not Lacy!) still have a future ahead of them. Taking all of this into account, I believe that Joe should continue to take this course. The prime opponents out there now, the ones who people really, really believe could beat Joe, are 1) Chad Dawson and 2) (and to a lesser extent) Kelly Pavlik. It is these fighters who will go on to be names throughout the next decade, not the long retired stars of the late 90s. Imagine, 6 years or so from now a veteran Kesler, Dawson and Pavlik all HOFers and all with a single L on their records, one delivered by the great, undefeated, Joe Calzaghe. This is the way that Joe secures respect from boxing fans, maybe not now, maybe not next year, but further than that, into a long lasting future. Thoughts? ________ Buy No2 Vaporizer

But thats not going to happen, Winky would have beat hopkins in the last fight if cheating wasn't going on with that head butt. Unintentional my ass when he bounces off the ropes like that lunging like a mad man with his forehead out. He has to cheat to win. This is what is going to happen in America if Hopkins does win, he will use head butts. Illegal shots, hitting Calzaghe in the dick and pretending it wasn't on purpose. And wahla, Americans will all forget on how he cheated if thats how he has to fight to win I'm not gonna play Johnny Cochran and defend a guilty man! Yes B-Hop has at times gotten a bit beastly up in the ring, but he isn't the only one! Cotto did Zab dirty, Pacman had an evil smile on his face after he and JMM banged domes, and I've seen ya client Calz rabbit punch a few guys!

I think Pavlik is the golden boy at the moment. There was a poll on espn that said 60% think he would beat Calzaghe. That is the fight he needs to aim for. Alternatively if Taylor gets a good win at 168 he would be a good name aswell. Both would be even better! B-Hop's been defying his age for a long time. Only way Joe shouldn't get respect from a win in that fight is if it's a bullshit decision or a premature stoppage. But regardless, I agree Pavlik and Taylor are the guys people would like to see him fight. That means he has to go back to SMW after the Hopkins fight which he might not be comfortable with. But he already said he would to face Pavlik so we'll see.

Yep but calzaghe wants to be known as a great and he wants to be a big name in america i think he is one of the beat boxers around but not many people outside the uk have the same opinion. I hope he becomes a big name amongst who I regard to be the greatest and friendliest people on Earth. However, it is more important that he is big amongst the British. His own countrymen. He has so much money now that he does not need to make it big anywhere.

Joe Calzaghe is British and he has said in an interview that he is proud to be both Welsh and British. The only fans he needs to impress are the British ones that help him sell out 75 000 seated stadiums. As for the Hopkins fight, if he does somehow manage to defeat that racist guy then it can only be good for him as Hopkins is a truly great boxer and obviously very comfortable at Light-Heavyweight. Yep but calzaghe wants to be known as a great and he wants to be a big name in america i think he is one of the beat boxers around but not many people outside the uk have the same opinion.

A lot of Americans already give Joe a lot of credit... Agreed. Shouldn't all get tarred with the same brush. I've seen plenty of US guys picking Calzaghe over Hopkins. Too many do deride him as a joke though. ________ SUZUKI SX4 SPECIFICATIONS

Joe Calzaghe is British and he has said in an interview that he is proud to be both Welsh and British. The only fans he needs to impress are the British ones that help him sell out 75 000 seated stadiums. As for the Hopkins fight, if he does somehow manage to defeat that racist guy then it can only be good for him as Hopkins is a truly great boxer and obviously very comfortable at Light-Heavyweight.

He's already respected thatz why he's the favorite! The question is will Hopkins get respect for beating Calzaghe? Will people call Calz another blown up victim? thatz the question!! It would be Hopkins best win by far, leapfrogging his win against Glen Johnson.